1Federal Territory Day Cycling Convoy

The event banner.

The big day finally came. After weeks of nervousness (covered in a recent post here) and even a bicycle breakdown the day before (covered in a another post here), all comes to this very day. I did not sleep well the night before since I was ever so anxious. I feel like I was going to go for an exam of sorts, a test of endurance for both the rider and the bicycle. Passing it would mean crossing the finish line within the 3 hour limit. Failure would also mean crossing the finish line, but by riding at the back of a truck sent by the organizers.

10 minutes before flag off.

I arrived at Putrajaya roughly 40 minutes before flag off. Parked some 1 km away from the starting point to avoid unnecessary traffic on the way home. Had a quick light breakfast and then briskly sped my bike to the starting point. A crowd of several thousand participants had already gathered and was ready. Just 10 minutes before flag off.

Go! (Photo courtesy of Kelab Berbasikal Jerantut).

A blow of the whistle, and the crowd was off. Despite entire 3-lane highways closed off, the sheer number of participants made cycling difficult since riders were cramped close to one another. However, while the kilometers progressed, the crowd slowly dispersed as each rider gradually settled down to their comfortable own cadence and their bicycle's speed capability.

The 30.9 km route.

With the bicycle's underpowered 55 top GI (gear inches) combined with my usually high cadence (which I got from using such small wheels for some time), I found myself to "spin-out" (to be moving too quickly that no matter how fast you pedal, your gear just isn't big enough) multiple times, even during level roads. Quite a big frustration actually because it wastes precious energy. So I changed my tactics, cycling as fast as possible until near spin-outs during downhills, then coast until the the bike slowed to the point I could power pedal again at high speeds. However, the low GI range of my bike also helped me to climb slopes nearly effortlessly, while several cyclists had to dismount their rides and push their bikes uphill.

I was also, in a way, thankful that I had sent my bicycle to the shop for repairs the day before. With the passing kilometers, I saw several disheartened riders had to stop by the roadside due to problems with their gear set, etc.

After a gruelling 1 hour 37 minutes, about half of the time I expected to finish, I finally finally finally crossed the finish line. So so tired, yet so so happy and satisfied that I made the 30.9 km journey with my small wheels. My first professional convoy. I calculated my average speed that day, a surprising 19km/h. My usual was only around 11 km/h tops. What a day!

After crossing the finish line. Note: While most riders wear backpacks, I whenever possible, like to keep my shoulders free
so that I do not have stiff shoulders after a ride. I do this by
putting my stuff in a bag and attach the bag to the handlebars (since my bicycle does not have rear racks).

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